Frugal Friday | Christmas Ideas

We have real winter weather in England now and snow was forecast for today! Most people are thinking about Christmas and there appears to be a determination to enjoy it despite the economic problems. I read that toy shops are busy this morning.

Melba toast dates back to 1897 when it was created by a chef for Australian opera singer Nellie Melba, who complained her toast was too thick. The bread was toasted and then cut laterally and toasted again. The bread was thick in those days but we can get thin sliced bread now and so making melba toast is easy. Just toast it and then allow it to cool and you can then dip it in soup or makes canapés for Christmas! Canapés are simply canopies of things piled on Melba toast. You can spread the Melba toast with butter or garlic butter or even a low fat spread. You could spread it with a cheese spread and then put more ingredients on the top. Salmon would be good, fresh or out of a tin; perhaps with a few prawns on top. These canapés would be good to serve to guests but they are light and so could be used as a starter for Christmas lunch.

Turkey seems to be getting more expensive as Christmas approaches. I have a turkey thigh joint and find they taste nice and there will be very little waste. I’ll eat any leftover, cold with salad and yummy Branston pickle. I think few people eat turkey for several days now and many have a a turkey crown rather than a whole turkey. I have seen traditional puddings on sale for Christmas such as treacle pudding and toffee pudding; but most people want something much lighter. They also want something much cheaper. Fruit and ice cream is healthier and lighter for desert. You can also have fruit such as a slice of melon as a starter. Salad as a starter is far more popular these days too; soup is much less popular. I want to buy lots of fruit to eat over Christmas, too much heavy food makes us sluggish and lazy.

The weather today is real winter weather and it’s even snowed a little so I’ll be cooking a chicken stew. Stew is great for giving you all the nutrients you need to keep warm in winter. Most supermarkets do a stew pack of vegetables, carrots, swede, parsnip and onions all in a pack. You can add some legs of chicken and herbs d’Provence to make a delicious stew to keep out the cold. Try to make sure you still get your 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day all through the Christmas period, we need more vitamins in the colds and flu’ season!

I chopped too many vegetables last week and ended up cooking two saucepans of stew! It was yummy though and lasted for a few meals!

This is my frugal Christmas gift. I printed out the photograph that I got a certificate for in the photography competition to A4. I framed it in a A4 frame from Poundland and now it adorns my living room wall. It would make a good present for well under £2.00 though. You can also make a framed photograph more personal. It could be a photograph of the recipient of the gift, their loved ones or their home. My printer also scans and an old photograph that has sentimental value can also be copied and framed, then used as a gift. A photograph from the recipients childhood or one of a favourite holiday destination perhaps?

I hope I have inspired you with some frugal ideas for Christmas. I’ll keep on blogging all through Christmas and will probably have some last minute ideas next week. There are more amazing blogs on my Home Page. Thanks for visiting, please share by clicking the share button and I really do appreciate comments!